Woods shot an opening round three over par score of 74. He left last week's PGA Tour event during the fourth round with back spasms, and only announced Wednesday that he would play in the PGA Championship.

"It's a little stiff," Woods told reporters when asked about his back after the round.

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Woods, 38, didn't arrive at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, until Wednesday afternoon and played nine practice holes before teeing off early Thursday morning in a group with Phil Mickelson and Ireland's Padraig Harrington.

The lack of preparation showed as Woods finished his round with four bogeys and a birdie. He missed tee shots wide of the intended targets, landed wedge shots short of the greens and struggled to hit putts hard enough to reach the holes.

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"I didn't play as well as a I wanted to," Wood said. "It is what it is. I had the same opportunity as everybody else. I just didn't get it done."

"I had the same opportunity as everybody else. I just didn't get it done": Tiger Woods. Photo: Getty Images

Beginning play on the 10th hole at the Nicklaus-designed course, Woods bogeyed 2 of his opening five holes before chipping in from off of the 16th green for a birdie. Both of his first two bogeys came on par-3 holes.

Woods's woes were mostly related to his driver, a club that requires the most timing and force to hit shots long and straight off of the tee. He finished the round hitting eight of 14 possible fairways.

He missed the fairway on the course's first hole - his 10th of the day - so far left that the ball came to rest in thick grass, about 60 yards off line. After a hard, lashing swing, Woods' ball landed about 35 yards short of the green. He left that green with his third bogey of the round.

Things didn't improve on the next hole, the 500-yard, par-4 second. Woods tried a 3-wood off of the tee with the same result, pulling the shot left of the fairway into a creek. Woods cursed and slammed his club into the ground as he walked off of the tee en route to his fourth bogey.

About two hours before Rory McIlroy, golf's new No. 1- ranked player, was scheduled to begin his opening round, Woods was seemingly already out of contention. Still, Woods wasn't ready to rule himself out of the tournament.

"I just have to get under par tomorrow," he said. "If I get under par for two rounds, I'll be right in the ball game."

Recovery from back surgery March 31 kept Woods out of April's Masters Tournament for the first time as a professional and the U.S. Open in June. He finished 69th in last month's British Open, his worst 72-hole result in any of the sport's four major tournaments.

When he did hit his tee shots where he wanted today, it was his irons which failed Woods. On the 12th hole, Woods had a pitching wedge in hand and left his approach shot about five feet short of the putting surface. He had similar results on holes 14 and 16, where he was able to salvage his only birdie with a chip-in from off of the green.

On his final hole Thursday, Woods left a 30-foot birdie putt two feet short of the cup. He has made only 5 putts longer than 20 feet this year.

"It wasn't very good," Woods said. "A lot of bad shots and I never got a putt to the hole. That's not a good combo."